Escape from Indico
by Orca15
Summary: After some time on Atlantis Kari makes her first mistake... it could cost Evan and Kari their lives....


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Stargate Atlantis. Though, I do own the Junior team, so please, if you want to use them, just ask.

Pairings: Even Lorne/Kari Smith

Escape from Indico

Junior Major Kari Smith stared out through the bars of the cell she was being kept in. She'd screwed up majorly. It was probably the biggest screw up in the history of the Stargate Program. She looked from her team, Junior Lieutenant Ella Camma, Junior Lieutenant James Conner, and Junior Lieutenant Mark Conrad, to the Stargate just a few clicks away. The only thing stopping her from disappearing was the bars that held them out in the open. i_If anything hostile came through the 'gate we'd be the first ones to be killed./i _She thought just as the gate activated. She jumped when the wormhole engaged. "Geez Major, jumpy are we." James commented.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am." She watched the 'gate. "Anything could come through that and we are completely defenseless here." She glanced at their gear laying on the ground less then ten feet away. She sighed. "I don't get it. I don't know what we did to get locked up like this."

"SGAJ please come in, this is Atlantis." The radios said.

"Oh god, it's Atlantis. Atlantis is looking for us." Ella said. Commander Jacques Simmers walked up and yanked a radio out of the pile.

"Your team are under arrest Dr. Weir." He said into the radio.

"Please explain." Dr. Weir's voice said back through the radio.

"They broke the Indico law that has been established for thousands of generations, and now their under arrest." He walked off, out of earshot.

_Hours later_

Kari paced the cell. She hadn't heard from Dr. Weir or the Commander in three hours. She'd just given the order for everyone else to get some rest. She watched the 'gate and hoped beyond hope that it would activate and a rescue party would come after them. She looked at the pile of gear, she'd hoped to be able to eaves drop on the Commanders conversation with Weir, but the other radios were buried under a couple vests. If only she'd been able to tell people goodbye…. The 'gate activated taking her by surprise. She watched the event horizon of the wormhole that was now established. Major Even Lorne stepped through. "Get up guys. It looks like we might be going home." She said, her team got to their feet silently and swiftly. They stood by her. The Commander brought Even up to the cell, he made eye contact with her.

"You, you, and you, let's go, the fine Major here is trading himself for you." He had pointed to James, Mark and Kari.

"No" Kari said. "Let Ella go, I'll stay here." She said.

"Okay then." Even shook his head slightly to her, showing his disapproval. The Commander opened the cell to let the three out and Even in, no one moved.

"Go, that's an order." Kari commanded her team, they went out and Even walked in slowly. The Commander closed the door behind them and escorted the free trio to the 'gate and dialed Atlantis. Within seconds, her team was gone.

"Why did you do that?" Even asked her.

"I am not going to leave my team behind. Period, you should know that, you taught it to me."

"Good point. It's almost dark. Come here." He went and sat on the opposite side of the cell. She followed him and sat down next to him. "I have a plan." He whispered.

"You do?" She whispered back.

"Do I ever not have a plan?"

"Sometimes."

"Only when McKay or Sheppard have a better one. Anyway, I have this." He pulled his jacket back to show her a laser cutter.

"Didn't they search you?"

"Yes, but they could use a few pointers on how to properly search a prisoner." He closed his jacket to hide the device. "We wait 'till dark, escape this dang cell, then we get away from the town. There's to many guard's at the 'gate. We'll wait for Colonel Caldwell to come and get us in the Deadulas."

"Got it." While they waited to dark to come, they sat calmly next to each other, with their fingers laced together.

"We're gonna get out of this. I promise." Even said to her.

"I sure hope so." She replied.

When the sun set, Even went to work cutting through the bars at the back of the cell. When he got enough cut away they slipped out, hopefully undetected, to the treeline.

"Shouldn't we get the gear?" Kari asked.

"No, we shouldn't need it. They would pick up any radio chatter and there wasn't any food in your packs anyway."

"What about medical supplies?"

"Shouldn't be a problem, we'll just have to keep from getting hurt now won't we?"

"I guess."

"Let's go. Try to stay low and behind the bushes."

"Yes sir."

"Don't worry about that right now. You and I both know that you don't want to call me sir."

"No kidding honey, but we did agree that on missions we would address each other professionally."

"Is this a normal mission?" He smiled and they moved out.

"Is there designated co-ordinance's that we're supposed to go to be picked up?"

"Yeah, just the other side of the ridgeline there's a clearing. We're supposed to get there by dawn."

"Why couldn't they just beam us up from the cell?"

"It's protected by some kind of shield."

"Oh."

"It's gonna be a long night." She nodded and kept walking. They'd been walking for about twenty minutes when they heard people behind them. A whole lot of people, suggesting a large search party.

Commander Jacques Simmers was an honorable soldier, he never made mistakes. But now, he made a mistake, he let the prisoners go, they had escaped. And for what? His own selfish desires of giving a woman the satisfaction of a real life hunt. Lieutenant Summer Contrad walked up. The women was tasteful at best, tall and slender she was also very smart, which is why he'd chosen her for his second in command. "Commander, there's no sign of the prisoners." She reported.

"Summer, I'm calling off the search team. I want you to find them and when you do, kill them. IT might just get you a promotion." He gave her the order and turned away. i_A promotion in more then military aspects perhaps./i _The thought made him grin. He loved the thought of having a woman like Summer at his side for the rest of eternity. He walked away, confident that his orders would be carried out to the word.

The pouring rain drowned out any sound of pursuing footsteps, but Kari and Even still ran, knowing that all but one of their pursuers had broke off and given up. Kari ran swiftly, giving Even no worries of leaving her behind. Even tripped on something and fell. "Even!" she yelled out of adrenaline as she went back for him. She pulled him to his feet and they kept running. The pursuer got closer. She heard the gun firing, the woman had their weapons. She heard the bullets flying past her ears. They'd defiantly been spotted. She kept running, hopping neither of them caught a bullet. Her hopes were dashed just a second later when she felt a bullet rip through her left leg just below her knee. She fell to the ground in pain. She tried to get up and run, but it was close to impossible. She couldn't put weight on her left leg at all. Even pulled her to her feet and supported her weight by putting her arm over his shoulder. They continued their run. Kari tried to ignore the pain, but it was overwhelming. "Even, I'm slowing you down, just leave me!" she screamed over the rain.

"No, I'm not leaving you. No one gets left behind. Remember, I'm the one that taught you that." Even screamed back. Their pursuer gained on them. Even pulled her into a small cave. "Shh." He said. They waited silently. The pursuer ran by them. Kari and Even sighed at the same time, proving that they had both been holding their breaths. After a few seconds Even lowered her to the ground, letting her lean against the wall. He pulled his belt off and began putting it on her leg as a tunicate. "I'm really wishing I had of listened to you and gone back for the gear. At least we'd have a little C4 and some medical supplies."

"Don't worry about it." She told him. He investigated the wound.

"The bullet is lodged in your leg. I'm gonna leave it for now because it's plugging the hole. Hopefully, you won't bleed to death before dawn."

"I've never been a complainer. But this hurts."

"I know Baby. But I made the stupid decision to not go back for the supplies."

"It's not your fault, it's mine."

"Kari, I need to know what you did."

"I don't know Even."

"Okay, walk me through from the time you decided to do this mission."

"Dr. Weir felt that it was time for us to do our first solo mission. She wanted us to come to this planet and get to know the people, possibly open up trade with them. Indico was supposed to be a primitive settlement. When we came through, I stayed with the 'gate while Ella, Mark, and James did recon. While I was standing there, this cat came up and rubbed on my legs. I reached down to pet the cat and… omigod!"

"What?"

"In ancient Egypt they worshiped cat's as gods. There's a very large possibility that these people do too."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, after I touched the cat they arrested me immediately. When Ella, Mark, and James tried to report back, they were arrested as well. Ella told me that she had found a temple. The writing was ancient Egyptian. These people think they were protecting their god."

"Wait, if these people were brought here from Earth by a Gua'uld, that means we could have a Gua'uld here in Pegasus."

"I wasn't going to say it." She paused. "It's also possible that the Ancients brought them here."

"Good point, lets hope that's the case."

"Yeah." He went over to the entrance of the cave and looked out.

"You think you can walk?"

"I think so, yeah." He put his hand out for her, she grabbed it and pulled herself to her feet. She kept as much weight off her left leg. Even put her left arm over his shoulder and they started walking toward the ridge. They heard a twig crack somewhere off to the left and froze. The rain was still pouring down and it made it hard to figure out where exactly the sound had come from. After a few second's there was no more sounds, so they continued on. "Even, I'm not feeling so good." She whispered to him.

"I think not, you've lost a lot of blood and your still loosing. Stay with me, we'll be out of here before long." They heard another distinctive cracking sound, this time it was closer, they were still being followed. They settled down in some bushes for cover just as a women in an Indician military uniform stepped out of the tree's.

"I know you're here crooks and I'll find you." The woman screamed into the rainy night. "You're both going to die!" She gave an evil laugh. She settled down in the clearing and stayed there for another two hours and then moved on.

"A fish in a bucket." Kari whispered.

"What?" Even questioned.

"If you put a fish in a bucket and shoot at it, you would kill the fish no matter if you hit the fish or the bucket." Even gave her a confused look. "Well, if you hit the fish, obviously, it would kill it. But, if you hit the bucket, it would create a hole and all the water would drain out, thus drowning the fish."

"And your point?"

"Why was it so easy for us to escape?" IF they regard cats as gods, and I touched the cat, that would be a death sentence. They could've killed me while they had me in that cell. But they didn't because they wanted the sport of the hunt. If you give a cat the option of eating a dead mouse on a trap or hunting a mouse that's alive and running, the cat would choose to hunt. Their hunting us Even."

"You've spent too much time with McKay."

"No, don't you think its possible?"

"Yeah. Your right, what do we do?"

"Well, I really don't know. Let's keep going for the ridge. It's the best plan we've got and we're close, so lets go."

"Okay, can you still walk?"

"Do I have a choice? I have too. Let's go." He helped her up and she draped her left arm over his shoulder's so that her weight would be supported. They topped the ridge just as the sun started peeking over the distant mountains. "Lets hope Caldwell get's here soon." They started down the other side to get a little cover but before they got three steps the woman appeared behind them.

"Your dead! You have nowhere to go! You won't accomplish anything by running!" she screamed at them. They started running but Kari fell, Even didn't waste any time helping her up, he picked her up instead and kept running. The woman raised her gun and started shooting at them again. They kept running. All of a sudden they were running on the bridge of the Deadulas. Even stopped running as soon as he realized that Caldwell had transported them aboard the Deadulas.

"Lieutenant get us out of here." Colonel Steven Caldwell ordered.

"She's been shot! I need a medical team!" Even screamed.

"Beam them to the infirmary." Caldwell ordered.

"Yes sir." The Airmen operating the transporter consol said as she messed with the controls. The bridge disappeared and was replaced by the hospital like infirmary.

"Right there." A doctor said as she pointed to a bed. Even laid Kari on the bed that had been indicated.

"Even?" Kari asked.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"We escaped from Indico."

"We did." He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I love you."

"I love you too." She whispered back as she passed out.

When Kari opened her eyes she saw Dr. Weir, Even, Lt. Col. John Sheppard, Richard Woolsey, and Dr. Carson Beckett. "I don't care what the IOA thinks!" Weir was saying. "The Junior team is a valuable asset to this expedition."

"They have saved me a few times." Sheppard put in.

"That doesn't matter. This child nearly lost her life." Woolsey argued his point. Kari was pretty sure she knew what was going on.

"Woolsey, I'm not a child." Kari said, making it known that she was awake. Even and Dr. Beckett were by her side in second's. "What's going on?" She asked the question simply to confirm her suspicion.

"The IOA think that the Junior team should be recalled." Weir said.

"Okay Woolsey, I'm only saying this once. Each one of my team members are considered adults. We all have emancipation papers."

"I'm well away of that fact Miss. Smith…."

"That's Junior Major to you."

"Junior Major… you are still young."

"Yes, we're all seventeen. But what's the difference in a seventeen year old and an eighteen year old?" We're all here voluntarily. If you must do something, ask my team if they want to go home or not. But I think we'll all agree, this is home now. I'm not going anywhere Mr. Woolsey."

"We do agree." Ella said from the door where she stood with Mark and James. "Some of us don't have anyone to go 'home' too. This is it. The people here on Atlantis are our familys."

"Okay, you win, again. I personally fell that this team is just as good as any other team, they have saved me once before. But the rest of the IOA doesn't agree. I can't promise that I'll be the one to evaluate the team the next time. Good luck and be careful. Now, I'd like to go home because I do have someone to go home to." Woolsey said and then he walked out.

"And that, lady's and gentlemen, is why I want to keep these kids around." Weir said. "Very well done Kari. We've been arguing with him for three hours and you make good work of him in less then five minutes." She turned and walked left.

"Like Elizabeth said, good job Kari. You too Ella." Sheppard said. "I'll be waiting for your report on Indico." He added as he walked out.

"I'll leave you alone." Beckett said as he left. Kari's team smiled at her and Even, then they turned and left without a word.

"You could've died out there." Even said.

"I was about to say the same about you." She replied. He smiled at her.

"You're one stubborn woman." He said as he leaned down to kiss her. "That's why I love you."

"I was about to say the same thing about you."

The end.


End file.
